Interview with Cover Artist Crystal Contreras

Authors

  • Nikitha Jeyaprakash
  • Crystal Contreras

Keywords:

Student artist interview, Sedona My Love, Abstract and digital art

Abstract

In this artist interview, student editor Nikitha Jeyaprakash speaks with Crystal Contreras, whose artwork Sedona My Loveappears on the cover of the Fall 2021 issue of The Undergraduate Review. Contreras discusses her lifelong journey through various art forms, from traditional painting to digital illustration and collage. She shares the personal and spiritual significance behind Sedona My Love, a piece inspired by a transformative women's retreat in Arizona. The conversation delves into themes of healing, self-expression, intuition, and the role of art as a tool for both personal growth and communal connection. The interview offers a compelling glimpse into the artist’s creative process and emotional landscape.

Author Biographies

Nikitha Jeyaprakash

Nikitha Jeyaprakash is a sophomore at Rutgers University-
Camden with a plan to double major in Health Sciences and
Nursing. Nikitha is a member of the Honors College, which
has positively impacted her growth as a student. Her
contribution as one of the editors of The Undergraduate Review
is her first experience in integrating herself into the campus
community and she hopes to expand her horizons
exponentially over the duration of her undergraduate studies.
Nikitha’s passions lie in public health efforts and community
involvement, and she hopes to not only strengthen her own
voice, but to hear those of her peers’ during her time spent
working with The Undergraduate Review. Being on the Dean’s
list for consecutive semesters since her freshman year and
officially accepted to the nursing program as of Fall 2023, she
hopes to navigate her undergraduate experience and find her
niche by integrating her career plans with her passions.

Crystal Contreras

Crystal Contreras is a student at Rutgers University-Camden
School of Business majoring in business administration who
graduates in May 2023. Crystal has been involved in the arts
since childhood and has since nurtured her love and interest
in art by learning art of various media and partaking in the
creation of many art pieces since her time in school. Crystal’s
work “Sedona My Love” is a reference to a photo she took
while on a women’s retreat in Sedona, Arizona and seeks to
capture the moments of connectedness and belonging she felt
with the fellow retreat participants. The work hopes to
capture the beauty of nature and the magic of life and marks a
moment in Crystal’s life when she pushed herself out of her
comfort zone. Why the very moment the artwork was created
holds great significance to the message Crystal hopes to
convey to those that see her work; “Sedona My Love” was
created on a plane ride around when her life seemed turbulent
and is a recreation of one of the pictures she took on her
journey. The artwork conveys a message of hope and Crystal
hopes that her work for the front cover convinced everyone
that everything in life eventually falls into place.

Cover of The Undergraduate Review, Fall 2021 edition, from the Honors College at Rutgers University–Camden. The top features the red Rutgers logo and text: “Rutgers University–Camden Honors College.” The background is a bold, colorful painting of a wide, orange-and-yellow dirt path or road stretching into a vivid landscape of green bushes and rolling hills beneath a blue sky. The title “The Undergraduate Review” and subtitle “Fall 2021” appear in white text near the center. “Volume 2, Issue 2” is displayed in the lower-right corner.

Downloads

Published

2025-06-25

How to Cite

Jeyaprakash, N., & Contreras, C. (2025). Interview with Cover Artist Crystal Contreras. The Rutgers-Camden Undergraduate Review, 2(2), 4. Retrieved from https://rcur.libraries.rutgers.edu/index.php/rcur/article/view/2230

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 2 (2021): The Undergraduate Review

Section

Articles